TRI TIP AND BRIE CROSTINI

Last Christmas, my mom, sister, and I each received cooking lessons from the Laguna Culinary Arts Institute. It was a unique gift and something fun for us to do together. However, the summer rolled around and we hadn’t scheduled any lessons, yet. Last month, my mom called me up and said she’d been looking at the class schedule and saw that there would be a tri tip class and that she thought she’d like to learn to make it. I was in, the only problem was my sister was planning to be out of town. But it turned out not to be a problem because my DAD decided he wanted to go in her place!

We arrived (to the Orange Circle location) and saw all sorts of ingredients laid out. It was quite the fancy set up and we each had our own prep station. The instructor walked us through different types of cooking and the different methods, then told us that tonight would be a “create your own recipe” class and that we should just get started.

Now, my family is not known for our kitchen prowess. We are fine cooks, but coming from a family of picky eaters doesn’t really mean that we get creative in the kitchen. So, when we were told to start creating a dish, we each had a look of fear in our eyes. The instructor came over and asked us a few questions. He first asked which style of cooking we were interested in. For me, it was French cuisine because I liked the idea of the my tri tip to have flavors infused with rosemary, garlic, onion, etc. Then he asked what method. Because I had never braised anything before and was curious about what it entailed I opted for that. He said he thought my ideas were good ones and told me to start getting my ingredients ready and then he showed me how to sear the meat over an open flame, then add ingredients for the braising, and then we put it in the over for an hour. (I’ll have you know that I was the first one to start cooking…gold shiny star for me!)

After a while, everyone had their meat cooking. And then it was time to start working on the side dish and preparation. I drenched slices of summer squash in lemon juice and then put them on the stove with olive oil. They were delicious! I also started to slice bread and douse them in olive oil before putting them on the stove, too. We’d had bread and brie for appetizers and for some reason, I got it in my head that having the brie with the tri tip sounded yummy, so I got it ready.

When the braising had finished and I pulled it out of the oven, my tri tip just FELL APART. It was the juiciest and most delicious piece of meat that I’ve ever had. I sliced it up and placed pieces on the brie and the instructor said that no one had ever done that in one of his classes, but everyone in the room had at least one piece of my creation. I was a little proud and HOPE, no PRAY, that I can create the dish once again!

I can’t wait until the next class and highly encourage you all in So Cal to check out the Laguna Culinary Arts Institute, too!

TRI TIP AND BRIE CROSTINI RECIPE

Salt and Pepper the Tri Tip, then sear it on the hot stove with olive oil (about 3 minutes on each side). Remove the meat. In the same pan, add more olive oil, garlic (4 cloves), rosemary (2 sticks chopped up), celery, carrots, onion. Scrape the bottom of the pan to infuse the spices with the meat flavor. Place the meat back in the pan and then add about 2 cups of chicken stock and one cup of a demi-glase until the meat is about 3/4 submerged. Bring the liquid to boil, then cover with cooking paper and bake for an hour at about 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, heat sliced bread with olive oil to taste, and place brie slices on top. When the braise is finished, slice (or pull it apart) and place on top of the brie. Voila. You now have an incredibly tasty meal or yummy appetizers!

Sorry for the quality of the photos…my mom took pics on her digital camera and doesn’t know how to email them to me, so she printed them out, and then we had to scan them. I can tell that cooking classes aren’t the only lessons she’ll be needing in the future! : ) 

Have YOU ever created a recipe from scratch like this or taken an incredible cooking class?

I’m linking up with Tasty Tuesday party  and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday today. Go on over and check out the other yummy dishes now!